‘Transgender’ Said for First Time in SOTU

President Obama recognized transgender people in his State of the Union address, drawing praise from LGBT rights advocates who said it was the first time the term had ever been used in the high-profile speech.

“We’ve gotten used to hearing re:gays, but I think that’s the 1st time the President has ever said the word transgender in a #SOTU. #progress,” tweeted Lanae Erickson, of Third Way Perspectives, a centrist Washington-based think tank.

Obama made the mention of transgender people in a section of the speech about human rights.

“That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender,” he said. “We do these things not only because they’re right, but because they make us safer.”